The Matchmaker
by AmaterasuChihaya
Summary: Written for the RyoSaku Exchange 2016. Prompt: Ryosaku married or reunited or senior hs. I've done my best to stick to the given prompt (i.e. this is somewhat of a high school reunion fic, and if one squints, there's some romance too). If any of the characters seem a bit OOC, I do apologize. Please do read and review!


Written for the RyoSaku Exchange 2016.

 **Prompt** : Ryosaku married or reunited or senior hs

 _Italics_ indicate Sakuno's thoughts.

* * *

A shaft of pre-dawn light filtered in through a slit in the curtains of the room and fell on the sleeping face of one Ryuuzaki Sakuno. Her face scrunched up slightly in response to the light, and she opened her chocolate brown eyes blearily to register the start of a new day. Heaving a sigh, Sakuno got up from her slumber and swung her legs over the edge of the bed while lazily stretching out her arms. Her brunette tresses, which hung around her slight frame, bore a rumpled and frazzled appearance. After finally managing to shake the final vestiges of sleep from her mind, Sakuno got up from her bed and headed towards the bathroom.

 _Let's get started, shall we?_

* * *

Twenty minutes later, a much more energized Sakuno exited from the bathroom and headed downstairs in jogging gear. In order to ensure her physical and mental well-being, Coach Ryuuzaki, who still continued to mentor the Seigaku Middle School tennis teams, had encouraged Sakuno to take up jogging in the early morning as a new year's resolution. The first two weeks had been quite taxing, but once her body had gotten used to her new schedule, it had become easier and, to an extent, enjoyable to go out for a jog in the mornings.

"I'm heading out, Obaa-san! I should be back in the usual half hour.", Sakuno called out as she sat in the hallway, putting on her running shoes.

"Okay! I'll have breakfast ready by then, Sakuno.", Coach Ryuuzaki called back from the kitchen.

The door to her house closed shut quietly, and Sakuno tapped the toes of her shoes against the pavement, getting ready to head out for her jog. She breathed in the fresh and slightly cold morning air, as she reminisced the previous day's events. With one last tap to get her shoes in place, Sakuno started jogging along the sidewalk, setting an even pace for her jog around the neighborhood.

As she jogged, Sakuno thought about the various things that were taking place in her life at the moment. She'd just recently entered her final year of high school, and life had become far more hectic than ever before for both herself and all her friends, what with college applications and entrance exams and the like.

 _But being so busy has its merits too._

Never before in her life had Sakuno been so occupied. High school had so far been a whirlwind of experiences, with new friendships being formed and older ones being strengthened, her learning new things on a daily basis and basically, attempting to find herself and her passions along the way. She'd managed to discover her hidden talents in the culinary arts, and was looking forward to the opportunity of exploring the field after she finished high school, even if the thought of having to finish high school left a pang in her heart.

Even amongst all things new, however, Sakuno never let go of her passion for tennis. Granted, she might never manage to be as good as any of her senpai back in the day, but she'd come a long way from the bumbling mess that she was at the age of twelve. Sakuno had, in the six years gone by, managed to amass a few tennis trophies to her name, even if they were only at the district level. The few victories she'd earned had done wonders for her self-confidence over the years, and Tomoka and Coach Ryuuzaki couldn't be any more prouder of her.

 _If he knew of my achievements, would he be proud of me as well?_

Her thoughts turned to a certain green-haired, hazel-eyed cocky tennis prince who was currently dominating the tennis scene. Echizen Ryoma, the tennis prince in question, had won all of the major tennis titles the previous year, including the four Grand Slams, and was a strong prospective victor for the heralding Grand Slam of the year, the Australian Open. Her achievements paled significantly in comparison to his, but Sakuno had known from the first time she'd seen him play at the Kakinokizaka Tennis Gardens that he would achieve great heights, and that he would always be far out of her reach. Ryoma had left for the States as soon as he'd finished his middle schooling, citing reasons of giving the majority of his attention to professional tennis as the cause. His parents had chosen to stay behind in Japan, wanting to give Ryoma the freedom to make his own decisions for his tennis career.

Even though it'd been almost three years since she'd last seen him, her affections for him hadn't died out; on the contrary, they'd grown even stronger, along with her respect and admiration for the perseverance and skills that he possessed when it came to the sport.

 _I wonder if I'll ever be able to see him again in person?_

 _Maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to-_

Sakuno's train of thought, and her evenly paced jog came to an abrupt halt when a rather large and heavy ball of fur tackled her head-on. Despite her infamous clumsiness, Sakuno was able to stay on her feet, all the while keeping a firm grip on the animal that had obstructed her path. After making sure she was steady on her feet, Sakuno diverted her attention to the animal in her hands.

It was a slightly plump cat having a long, brown and bushy tail and with off-white fur, which was brown in color near it's limbs. As Sakuno inspected the cat further, she couldn't shake off her growing suspicion that she knew this particular cat for some reason.

 _Wait a minute, isn't this-_

"Karupin! Where are you, Karupin?", called a male voice from around the corner of the sidewalk on which Sakuno was currently standing.

The owner of said male voice turned the corner, and Sakuno now stood face-to-face with the object of her affections and the occupant of her recent thoughts, Echizen Ryoma. He'd grown taller in the years that he'd been away, as he now stood over a head taller than her. He'd also grown out his hair, which reached close to the nape of his neck. His almond shaped eyes took in the scene before him and regarded the girl standing in front of him with a subdued patience.

Sakuno remained standing there, shocked beyond belief that the tennis prince was right there in front of her when he should be miles away, training for the upcoming Australian Open.

 _How is this possible? Why is he here?_

"-zaki. Ryuuzaki!"

Startled, Sakuno jumped back a bit, but after registering the fact the Ryoma was addressing her, she hesitantly replied,

"Yes, R-Ryoma-kun?"

"Could you give Karupin back to me?"

"O-Of course!"

Sakuno, face flushed with embarrassment, extended her arms to hand over the cat which currently resided there to Ryoma. However, for some strange reason, Karupin refused to relinquish his place in Sakuno's arms. Ryoma, while donning a slight frown on his face, tried to cajole Karupin out of there.

Sakuno watched this with an expression of utter bewilderment, and before she could stop herself, asked,

"How is Ryoma-kun here?"

Ryoma paused in his attempts of cajoling Karupin and turned his attention to her.

"I came here by a flight, obviously."

Her face, already red, flushed even further at Ryoma's reply.

"I m-meant to ask, why are you here, R-Ryoma-kun?"

"I'm here to visit my parents. I've been away for almost three years, after all."

Understanding dawned on her features, and she once again queried,

"How l-long will Ryoma-kun be here?"

Ryoma's frown turned into a slight smirk at her question, and as he watched her closely for her reaction, having given up on Karupin for the time being, said,

"I'll be going back the day after for the final training for the Australian Open."

At this, Sakuno's face fell slightly. She'd hoped that the tennis prince would be able to stay longer on one of his rare visits to Japan, but that was not to be for his tennis commitments called. Her slight frame radiated disappointment until she heard Ryoma's next statement.

"But I'll be back here for almost a month after the Australian Open gets over. With the trophy, of course."

Ignoring his rather inflated ego, Sakuno stared at Ryoma with barely concealed happiness, as the implications of his statement raced through her mind.

 _Ryoma-kun will be here for a month! And of all months of the year, he'll be here in February!_

 _Could this possibly be my chance to change things between us?_

Even as she thought of this, Sakuno's eyes landed on the cat that had yet to leave her arms. She heard Ryoma heave a sigh, and looked up at him with slightly guilty eyes.

"I don't know why he refuses to leave your arms."

Even Sakuno was mystified by this. Karupin chose this moment to burrow even further into her arms, purring away with contentment. Realizing that the half hour she'd allotted to her jog was up and that Karupin refused to leave her arms no matter how much she or Ryoma cajoled him to do so, she asked the boy in front of her hesitantly,

"W-Would you like to come over for breakfast, Ryoma-kun? Seeing a-as how Karupin is reluctant to let go for now, maybe he m-might do so after spending a b-bit more time with me."

Ryoma considered this, and seemingly having made a decision, started heading in the general direction of Sakuno's house. He'd walked a bit ahead when he realized that the girl wasn't walking by his side. Turning back, he saw her still standing where he'd left her with a surprised expression on her face.

"What's wrong, Ryuuzaki?", he called out.

"You r-remember the way to my house, Ryoma-kun?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

Sakuno was taken aback by his reply, but then shook away her surprise with a slight smile on her face. She hurried to catch up to Ryoma, apologies slipping out of her mouth as she approached. He waved them away, turned around and continued onto Sakuno's house, this time with the girl and his cat by his side.

Sakuno's smile grew larger and warmer as a certain thought made its way through her mind.

 _Looks like this is year is going to be a good one._


End file.
